Haynes's promotion will take effect starting with Arrow's forthcoming second season, while he will also continue to recur throughout the remainder of season one, TVLine reports.

In the original DC comics on which Arrow is based, the Roy Harper character becomes the costumed sidekick of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell).

The streetwise Harper will become romantically involved with Oliver's sister Thea (Willa Holland) in future episodes of the series.

"Our interpretation of Roy is hopefully unexpected," said show exec Marc Guggenheim. "Obviously he's from a very different side of the tracks from Thea, so that gives us a fun dynamic to play around with."